Sustainable Energy Academy 2018 Kicked off at AUA

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YEREVAN, Armenia – The third year of the Sustainable Energy Academy kicked off on August 24-25 with a Mentoring Workshop at the American University of Armenia (AUA). Twenty Academy alumni attending the workshop received training in mentoring youth and civil-society organizations seeking sustainable energy solutions in their respective communities.

The workshop is an integral part of the Sustainable Energy Academy 2018. This is the third year that the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE) is implementing this initiative in partnership with the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

As in prior years, the aim of the Academy is to inform and empower community youth and civil society to seek sustainable energy solutions that improve their lives while protecting the environment. This year, the activities of the Academy will focus on the Getik Valley in Armenia, stretching from Gosh to the village of Vahan. Several other communities along Lake Sevan (such as Drakhtik, Tsapatagh, and more) will also be invited to join.

In mid-September, the trained mentors and AUA Acopian Center experts will be in Getik Valley to conduct a Youth and Civil Society Workshop.  The participants will then be invited to develop project proposals in sustainable energy with the support of mentors and AUA Acopian Center experts. Viable projects, to be selected by a jury of experts, will be awarded small grants for project implementation. Later in November, the Sustainable Energy Academy 2018 Wrap-Up Festival to be held in Getik Valley, will showcase the achievements.

The Academy is engaging alumni of the program from previous years. “Our goal has been to create a network of citizens who are committed to sustainable energy development at the local community level,” says Alen Amirkhanian, director of the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment. “We have already assembled a good core group. This year, our alumni will mentor participants from 20 communities in the Getik Valley encouraging them to join us in similar efforts and future activities in other communities,” he adds.

For more details about the Sustainable Energy Academy, click here.

The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, a research center of the American University of Armenia, promotes the protection and restoration of the natural environment through research, education, and community outreach. AUA Acopian Center’s focus areas include sustainable natural resource management, biodiversity and conservation, greening the built environment, clean energy, and energy efficiency, as well as information technology and the environment.